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Sunday, June 9, 2013

Warm Potato Salad (Earls Restaurant Copycat Recipe)

You know the Warm Potato Salad from Earls Restaurant? The one that I sometimes dream about?

I think this is it.

To figure out how to make the Warm Potato Salad, I had to go to Earls Restaurant (twice, or maybe three times) to do a little 'research.' While doing the recon (more than once, just to be sure), I got to hang out with friends and drink wine and eat delicious potato salad. It was a very labour intensive education process, as you can imagine. Here is what I learned:

1) Huge pieces of bacon are necessary. You can't just have little bits of bacon in this salad, you need a large mouthful of bacon. Also, if a little bit of bacon grease happens to accidentally spill into the dressing, that is not a problem and people will like this salad and you more.

3) Dill is such a great herb. Sour cream is such a great dairy product.

4) This is really not a salad at all.

I originally served this salad a a birthday party that we hosted for The Hubby's best friend, as a side dish to the pulled pork sandwiches (yum) that his wife made. I was asked for the recipe for the potato salad two or three times that night, and that always makes you feel good. I just made it again recently when The Hubby's parents came for my father-in-law's birthday dinner, and it was served alongside The Hubby's marinated rotisserie prime rib (recipe to follow soon). Drool.

And here's a funny story, at least to me and probably not at all to my sister-in-law Serena...

I typed up this recipe and sent it to Serena in an email, because she wanted to make it as a side dish for her daughter, my niece, Avery's 4th birthday party (that makes at least three birthdays that this salad has been made for in just this blog post alone). Prior to this, Serena had also recommended to me a Jamie Oliver recipe for Sweet Potato and Chorizo Soup, which I decided to make on the same day that she made the Warm Potato Salad. We were text messaging back and forth that day while we were each making our respective recipes. I realized part way through making my soup that Sweet Potatoes are actually Yams in Canada (but since Jamie Oliver is from the UK the recipe had called for Sweet Potatoes), so the soup didn't come out the same way that it did when Serena makes it. Oopsy. I texted Serena to let her know my mistake, and she texted back shortly afterwards, "Did you peel the potatoes?" Thinking that she was referring to the sweet potatoes in my recipe, I responded that yes I had, because the recipe had called for me to do so. Later that day, the Hubby and I arrived for dinner and Serena was cursing me for how long the Warm Potato Salad had taken her to make because of how labour-intensive it is to peel 5 pounds of baby nugget potatoes. I asked, "why did you peel them?" And she responded that I had told her to do so earlier that day over text message. Whoops, whoops, whoops, when she asked me if I had peeled the potatoes she had meant had I peeled them when I had made the Warm Potato Salad at the party we had. Sorry Serena. Classic mix-up. The End.

This is how many potatoes you don't have to peel

Disclaimer - I have absolutely no idea if this recipe is anywhere close to the actual recipe for Warm Potato Salad that Earls Restaurant uses, but to me this is what it tastes like. And I like it a lot. I hope you do too!

Warm Potato Salad

Serves: A lot of folks - 5 pounds of potatoes worth of folks!

Ingredients

5 pounds baby potatoes (not peeled - refer to story above!)

2 cups corn (frozen, fresh, canned - doesn't matter)

5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 pound sliced bacon

1 cup mayonnaise (I use light mayo)

1 cup sour cream (14%, not light or fat-free)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup melted butter or a few tablespoons of reserved bacon grease (totally optional, but it adds A LOT of yumminess to the salad)

Sliced chives or green onions, for garnish

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Cut the potatoes into half, or into bite-sized pieces if the potatoes are on the slightly larger nugget size. Place the potatoes in a single layer on the parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle the corn and the smashed garlic cloves evenly over top. Brush the olive oil over the potato, corn, and garlic mixture, ensuring that the garlic is well coated with oil. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and a small amount of salt.

Roast the potatoes at 425F for about 45 minutes, or until they begin to turn golden.

Meanwhile, using kitchen scissors (or a knife), cut each strip of bacon into large pieces (I usually cut each strip into about 4 - 5 pieces). Cook over medium heat in a frying pan until cooked to your liking, then remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Reserve bacon grease if using for the dressing, or discard if not.

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, dill, parmesan cheese, and the melted butter or bacon grease (if using melted butter or bacon grease). Stir well to combine.

When your potatoes are done, remove from oven. Remove the 5 cloves of roasted garlic from the baking sheets, and transfer to a cutting board, where you will mince into small pieces. Add the roasted garlic to the sour cream and mayonnaise dressing, and stir until well combined. Adjust seasonings of the dressing if necessary.

69 comments:

This recipe sounds so good! Five pounds sounds like a lot of potatoes, so I guess I will just cut the recipe in half the first time I make it. I have usually eaten potato salad cold, but I will give warm a try!

Made this tonight and it was a hit. I trimmed the recipe back to serve four with a little extra and was chastised for not making enough. I'll be making this again as will my sister who shared supper with us.

Haha - you just can't win...you make a great potato salad for everyone and they are unhappy that it wasn't enough! I'm so glad that you (and your sis) liked it! Next time you will have to double up the recipe instead of halving it...the leftovers are just so good!

The second time I made it I had enough for leftovers some of which were devoured cold and the remainder reheated. We found that we liked a little more dressing (which I fortunately had) after reheating. I will continue to err on the side of extra dressing from now on. I'm making it for my wife's volunteer housing board tomorrow. This is really good. Thanks for sharing!btw the contact links are now in place.

This was a super delicious recipe! It is easy and faster to make than regler ol' potato salad plus, it packs a big flavour! Thank you so much for the wonderful rendition- it's better than the original Earl's one! Your blog is great too, thanks for keeping it funny and interesting. I'm gonna go eat some again now that it is cold in the fridge...

Yum - when I read your comment I was jealous of you that you had leftovers in your fridge and I didn't! I'm so glad that you liked it. Thanks for letting me know and for reading my blog...I'm smiling from ear to ear! :)

I actually managed to get the ingredients list from a waiter at Earls (no measurements), I always came close to recreating this dish but something was always off. It was roasting the corn with the potatoes.Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love it!

I have made this recipe about 5 time's now. I always get asked for the recipe. In fact, I recently attended a wedding where potato salad was served.... everyone from the family wished it was this recipe over the 5 star hotel version! Ha! Thank you for coming up with this recipe, it is now a family favorite! :D

Should have commented on this much earlier as it is sooooooo good.I will be making it again this weekend (my 11th time!!) for a family BBQ. So wickedly decadent and easy to put together. Thanks for the recipe! And many more thanks from my hungry family :-)

"wickedly decadent." I love that!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. I'm so glad that you are your family like this one. Come to think of it, it's been awhile since I've made it. Sunday dinner this week is starting to look really good! :) Have a great day Keltie!

I think you may be referring to my Chorizo and Sweet Potato blog post rather than this Earls Warm Potato Salad post. I had indicated in that post that I had discovered that in the UK they call sweet potatoes what we call yams here in Canada. And since Jamie Oliver hails from the UK, I had accidentally used sweet potatoes instead of yams in my soup.

I'm excited for you to make it!! I guess it would depend on what you are serving at the BBQ. If you have various side dishes or other salads then i think one batch is enough as everyone will have a tiny scoop. If you have just a couple of side dishes then I would double it as people will take a bigger scoop. The pictures show how much it makes but I know it's hard to gauge without knowing the scale. When in doubt, I say to double it, as you won't regret having the leftovers and you can always send it home with people. Let me know what you decide and how you like it!!!

Just wanted you to know this recipe seemed spot on. I ended up at Earl's on Robson by chance while in Vancouver for business... I noticed it last minute before heading back to Cactus Club. I wandered upstairs after checking the yelp reviews and ended up ordering the cajun chicken and warm potato salad. It was love at first bite! Here I am a week later invited to a neighborhood BBQ potluck and I couldn't get that warm potato salad out of my head. I made it according to your directions except I cooked the potatoes corn and garlic in 13x9 metal pans in a Kamado style grill over indirect heat at about 450 for 50-55 minutes. I also opted for the 3tbsp of bacon drippings in lieu of butter. It was a huge hit and I already had two requests for the recipe. I'll be sure to give you credit when I pass it along! Thank you for helping me bring what was a stellar solo dining experience in Canada back to a huge gathering of friends here in Nevada!

I loved your comment...thank you! Earls is a great restaurant chain (as is Cactus Club), and I love that Robson St. location. I hope you enjoyed your stay in Vancouver! I'm so glad that you liked this version of the recipe, and I agree...bacon grease all the way! Earls actually sent me their recipe after they saw my blog post and I was able to confirm that it's actually very similar, with a few tweaks. Glad it was a hit at the BBQ, and thanks for spreading the word about my blog in Nevada. Have a great day!

So, I've been obsessed with the Earl's warm potato salad for a little while. I've been looking for a copycat recipe for a little while and I finally came across yours. I literally just made it.. I've had two spoons so far.. IT TASTES EXACTLY THE SAME.

I can't believe I didn't post a comment on this salad earlier!! It is how I discovered your site. My husband is a big fan of Earl's WPS and now he is a big fan of you :) Thank you for doing the hard part of perfectly recreating it and then selflessly sharing it with all of us!

Made this for Mother's Day BBQ yesterday. Tasted just like the one at Earl's and was a huge hit (we ran out even with a double batch for 9!). I used the bacon grease instead of melted butter because bacon. Also scored garlic cloves and roasted whole before mincing and sautéeing in bacon grease for a quick minute. Recommend serving and eating asap as the mayo/bacon grease shifts as it cools. So, so tasty, thanks for posting!

This is the best. I tried several other simialr recipes before i found this, but it is the best and i have been using it ever since. When we go to friends and i ask what to bring i get the same answer everytime. Warm potato salad!

Ive made this a few times now and we love it! The only addition is I add 1-2 tbsp of horseradish. I am not a horseradish fan at all but gave it a try and WOW this just adds to your amazing dish. Thank you for sharing. We just devour it. Favorite, favorite, favorite!

I'm planning on making a vegan version this weekend, because damn do I miss this... only thing I'll leave out is the parm, and I'll be using commercial bacon bits, because for some reason they don't actually contain any pork...

I used to be a sous chef at earls. It is smashed russet baked potatoes. The dressing, and all that, might just be ranch dressing. It is hard to remember exactly. Disappointing I know. Yours looks good though!

I made this often with either peeled and cut red potatoes or a mix of red and white mini potatoes. Every time I make it I am asked for the recipe. It’s always a huge hit and people are surprised by how good it is!

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I Just Can't Keep My Mouth Shut...

Hi, I'm Megan, and I love to cook and eat (and, ok, drink wine and beer, and watch bad reality TV, and hang out with The Hubby, and family, and friends). On this food blog you will find a balance of comfort food, healthy meals, and tasty snacks. Thanks for reading, and have a great day! Megan